Barnsley League 2012 - Gala 2

A short trip over the North Bridge towards Barnsley for the 2nd Barnsley League gala of the season was the order of the day on Saturday March 3rd. We took a slightly weakened team for one reason or another, but were still looking to be very competitive against the two big teams in the league, Barnsley and Wakefield as well as the much smaller club Chapeltown.

However, it was clear after the first 10 events we would have very little chance of competing with the big teams and would, in fact, have a challenge on our hands to beat Chapeltown. In the end, despite placing 1st or 2nd in 10 out of the 16 relays we never recovered from those first few individuals.

The result itself isn't a disappointment though. After all, we use the Barnsley League as an opportunity to swim people in events they may not normally swim as well as getting younger swimmers used to the competitive environment. It's all about getting in and racing!

If you have a look though the results from the 1st gala and compare them to this gala you can clearly see that we lost a lot of points due to swimmers now being too good to swim in the Barnsley League (due to placings at the recent Yorkshire Championships), as well as some regular point scorers (Kelsey, Jack, Katy Burton) not being available to swim. So don't worry, we will bounce back!

Gala 2 points

1st - Barnsley, 196 pts

2nd - Wakefield, 165 pts

3rd - Chapeltown, 156 pts

4th - Armthorpe, 155 pts

League standing's after the second of 5 gala's (each team misses one gala per season)

1st - Wakefield, 342 pts

2nd - Armthorpe, 341 pts

3rd - Chapeltown, 294 pts

4th - Barnsley, 196 pts (have missed their gala)

5th - Rotherham, 172 pts (have missed their gala)

Head Coach's Swimmer of the Meet.

This week it goes to someone who finally proved that there is a sprinter inside her... Jenny Collins. For months she's been working on picking up the stroke rate on her back and free and today it paid off in a race.